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Sony Michel Fantasy Football News 2019

"There isn’t much mystery regarding the Patriots running game," the Boston Herald's Kevin Duffy writes. "The preseason has made this much clear: The Pats are going to feed Sony Michel the ball early and often." It was a shaky spring for Michel, who was sidelined after another knee surgery. But he's been healthy throughout training camp and looked excellent in New England's 3rd preseason game. Michel figures to open the season as a workhorse on the ground -- and we've even heard that his role in the passing game might expand this season. He's a fine value at his current 5th-round ADP.

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The Boston Herald's Kevin Duffy writes "it's pretty clear" that RB Sony Michel remains the Patriots' lead ball-carrier. Rookie RB Damien Harris drew some early-summer buzz but "hasn’t received many practice reps over the past week," per Duffy. Michel, meanwhile, has avoided a setback with his troublesome knee and even flashed improved pass-catching ability. He's turned into a nice value at his recent RB26 ADP.

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Patriots insider Evan Lazar notes that RB Sony Michel has been seeing more work in the passing game in camp over the past few days. "The second-year running back ran routes out of the backfield and motioned out wide a few times as well," Lazar adds. Michel caught just 8 of 14 targets in 16 games (including playoffs) last year. But he turned in 22- and 26-catch seasons at Georgia. If he can even get up to 20 to 25 catches this season, it'd help his weekly reliability in fantasy lineups -- and obviously boost his PPR value.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) has been activated from the PUP list and will practice on Saturday, director of player personnel Nick Caserio said. Michel missed spring workouts after undergoing another knee surgery. Now we'll see if he can hold up and hold off rookie Damien Harris over the next month. Michel's ADP is sitting in the middle of the 5th round in DRAFT best balls over the past week.

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The Patriots are placing RB Sony Michel on the active/PUP list to begin training camp. ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that means Michel has yet to be cleared for on-field activities. Michel, of course, is working back from offseason knee surgery. His progress will be a key training-camp story, along with how rookie Damien Harris is performing (and his role).

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The NFL Network's Michael Giardi hears that Patriots RB Sony Michel is "progressing quickly" from his arthroscopic knee surgery. Michel has already resumed running "full tilt," Giardi adds. It sounds like Michel will be ready for training camp after missing the offseason program. But durability remains a significant concern for the 2nd-year back, who tore his ACL in high school, had knee surgery last August and then missed 2 games with knee trouble as a rookie. RB Damien Harris reportedly impressed this spring with Michel sidelined.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel had arthroscopic knee surgery this offseason, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic. Michel had been missing workouts without explanation. It's not yet clear which knee had the operation, but his left has been the problem since he tore the ACL on that side in high school in 2011. Michel also had a "minor" procedure on the knee last August that cost him the preseason and the regular-season opener. And he later missed 2 more games with an issue in the same knee. Howe reports that this latest surgery is also "minor" and that Michel's expected to return for training camp. But it looks worrisome from here that Michel is averaging a knee surgery a year so far. We've already been low on the 2nd-year Patriots RB, who might be in for a move further down the rankings given positive reports on rookie Damien Harris and Rex Burkhead so far.

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The Patriots added Alabama RB Damien Harris in the 3rd round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The #1 RB in the 2015 recruiting class led talented ‘Bama backfields in rushing in each of the past 3 seasons: 1,037 yards in 2016, 1,000 in 2017 and 876 this past year. He leaves school with a strong 6.4 yards per carry (half a yard better than Josh Jacobs) and also totaled 52 catches across his 4 years on campus. Harris isn’t a flashy back, but he packs a punch at 5’10, 216 pounds and registered a solid 46th percentile SPARQ score at the Combine. The pick feels a bit redundant for the Patriots, who have Sony Michel coming off an impressive season as lead ball-carrier. But Michel has a long injury history, including a knee injury last August that cost him the season’s first 3 games.

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Patriots RB Rex Burkhead (neck) is active for today’s game against the Vikings. He shouldn’t be in fantasy lineups in his 1st action since Week 3, but we’re curious to see how much work he steals from Sony Michel and James White.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) is active for today’s game against the Titans. It’ll be his 1st action since Week 7, which adds some risk to his outlook. But Michel racked up 316 yards and 4 TDs on 67 carries in his last 3 healthy games, so there’s clearly RB1 upside here.

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The Patriots expect RB Sony Michel to return for today's game against the Titans, according to multiple reports. He missed the past 2 weeks with an ankle injury. We'll see if WR Cordarrelle Patterson has worked his way into a larger share of rushing duties going forward, but you'll find Michel inside starter range in our Week 10 RB rankings.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Titans. It’s the same boat he was in last week before ending up inactive. But ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday that Michel is "likely" to return this week. We'll find out for sure by noon ET on Sunday. The rookie will be a risk/reward RB2 if active.

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Patriots RB Rex Burkhead (neck) returned to practice on Thursday, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. Burkhead appears on track to play when 1st eligible in Week 13. He figures to be 3rd in the backfield pecking order, though, behind James White and Sony Michel. We'd leave Burkhead on the waiver wire for now outside of deep fantasy leagues.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) was limited in Wednesday's practice. He was limited all last week, too, so this doesn't tell us much. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported earlier this week, though, that Michel is "likely" to return for Sunday's game against the Titans. We'll see if he's able to get in a full workout Thursday or Friday.

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ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) is "likely" to return for Sunday's game against the Titans. "Just needs a good week of practice with no setbacks, but on track," Schefter adds. We'll keep an eye on Michel's practice participation this week. Once healthy, he'll step back in as New England's lead ball-carrier and be a borderline RB1 in fantasy lineups.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) is inactive for tonight’s game against the Packers. We’ll see if New England again uses Cordarrelle Patterson in the backfield. RB James White remains an elite fantasy play.

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ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that there's "concern" about TE Rob Gronkowski (ankle, back) and RB Sony Michel's (knee) statuses for tonight's game against the Packers. Both guys were limited in practice this week and are listed as questionable. It sounds like final decisions on their statuses will be made after pre-game warmups. That means we won't know whether they're playing until around 7 pm ET. If you have other viable options, Gronk and Michel should be on fantasy benches now.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game against the Packers. As usual, we haven’t heard anything from the Pats (who list 13 players as questionable this week). We’ll look for an update on Michel on Sunday morning.

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Patriots RB Sony Michel (knee) has been downgraded to out for Monday night's game in Buffalo. He was originally listed as doubtful but never had a shot to play after missing practice all week. We'll see if he can return for Week 9. James White and Kenjon Barner will handle backfield duties for New England vs. the Bills.